Childminders and family childcare providers in Flanders will be able to apply from mid-September for grants of up to €3,000 to improve their childcare premises, Flemish Welfare Minister Caroline Gennez said on Saturday.
The investment grant will be available to both existing providers and new starters. It can be used for measures such as making childcare settings more resilient to heat and improving safety.
Gennez said the grant would remove a financial barrier for childminders who want to invest in their premises. She added that the measure should support those already working in the sector and make the profession more attractive to newcomers.
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The grant is part of a broader package backed by an annual investment of €14 million. The minister said the aim is to strengthen family childcare through better pay, more support and stronger social protection for childminders.
Family childcare providers currently care for more than 19,000 children in Flanders. In 2014, that figure was still above 31,000.
According to the minister, many childminders who started in the 1980s and 1990s are now retiring, while too few younger people are entering the profession to replace them. She said expectations around work have changed, with younger people more often looking for jobs that offer contact with colleagues and greater security, whereas childminders have traditionally worked alone from their own homes.
Gennez also said the number of places in group childcare and day nurseries is rising. A total of 1,635 new places have already opened this year.
She said that was positive news, but stressed that parents should still be able to choose a childminder, who offers small-scale childcare that is close to home. During this parliamentary term, the minister wants to recruit 900 additional employed childminders, creating 3,600 extra childcare places.
